Edvard Munch · 1885–86

The Sick Child

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Munch's tubercular sister Sophie in profile against a pale pillow, her aunt grieving beside her — the painting Munch revisited again and again all his life. National Museum, Oslo.

Up to 35 × 36 in · portrait

Size

Larger sizes are unavailable for this painting because the source scan's resolution wouldn't print at gallery quality.

Format & finish

Archival cotton canvas stretched over a wooden frame. Ready to hang as-is. No external frame.

Scale next to a 5'10" person

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Hand-printed in Ottawa

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Materials & quality

›Canvas & inks

Giclée-printed on archival cotton canvas with fade-resistant pigment inks, hand-stretched over wooden bars. Gallery-wrapped — ready to hang with no extra frame needed.

›Floater frame

Hand-finished solid wood floater frame in five finishes. The canvas sits inside with a clean shadow gap — the way galleries hang contemporary canvas.

›Posters

Premium archival paper — 200 gsm soft matte or 230 gsm vibrant glossy. Ships flat or rolled, ready for your own frame.

›Faithful to the source

Printed from the highest-resolution museum and archive scans available. Each painting's maximum size is capped at what its source scan can support at gallery quality.

About this painting

The story of The Sick Child

The Sick Child is the title given to a group of six paintings and a number of lithographs, drypoints and etchings completed by the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch between 1885 and 1926. Each work records the moments before the death of his older sister, Johanne Sophie (1862–1877), from tuberculosis aged 15. Munch repeatedly returned to this deeply traumatic event in his art over a period of over 40 years. In the works, Sophie is typically shown on her deathbed, accompanied by a dark-haired, grieving woman assumed to be her aunt Karen; the studies often show her in a cropped headshot. In all the painted versions, Sophie is sitting in a chair, obviously suffering from pain, propped by a large white pillow, looking towards an ominous curtain likely intended as a symbol of death. She is shown with a haunted expression, clutching hands with a grief-stricken older woman who seems to want to comfort her but whose head is bowed as if she cannot bear to look the younger girl in the eye.

Adapted from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

About the artist

Edvard Munch

Edvard Munch was a Norwegian painter. His 1893 work The Scream has become one of the most iconic and acclaimed images in all of Western art.

All Edvard Munch prints →

Biography adapted from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Frequently asked

The Sick Child— questions & answers

›What is the story behind The Sick Child?

It records the moments before the death of Munch's older sister, Johanne Sophie, from tuberculosis at age 15. She is shown propped against a large white pillow, clutching hands with a grieving dark-haired woman assumed to be her aunt Karen, whose head is bowed as if she cannot bear to look at her.

›How many versions of The Sick Child did Munch make?

Munch completed six painted versions plus lithographs, drypoints, and etchings between 1885 and 1926 — he returned to this deeply traumatic event in his art for over forty years.

›Where is The Sick Child painting?

The early version reproduced here is held at the National Museum in Oslo.

Pairs well with